1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to secondary air pumps in internal combustion engines. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of monitoring a secondary air pump, which communicates through an air duct with an exhaust gas line of an internal combustion engine to which a catalytic converter is connected, wherein the pumping capacity of the secondary air pump is predetermined, the actual pumping capacity of the secondary air pump is measured, and the measured pumping capacity is compared with the specified pumping capacity.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has become known heretofore from German patent disclosure DE 41 20 891 A1 a method of monitoring a secondary air pump, in which a desired capacity of the secondary air pump is monitored with a pressure sensor. Remedial steps are taken if the desired capacity deviates from a predetermined actual capacity. Ascertaining the actual capacity with a pressure sensor, however, is relatively imprecise. Moreover, nothing is found out about the type of malfunction.